Kuala Lumpur - Five Malaysian policemen were caught playing the Chinese board game mahjong while on patrol duty, a news report said Thursday.

The suspects had gathered in a home in the southern Johor state and were gambling when a team of fellow officers from the national police headquarters raided the building, the Star daily said.

The five officers, in their 20s and 30s, were dressed in their uniforms and were supposed to be on patrol duty in various parts of the state.

The suspects have been suspended from duty and will face disciplinary action, sources were quoted as saying by the report.

Under police standard operating procedures, officers on patrol duty are not supposed to gather as a group to socialize, the source said.

The raiding officers seized a mahjong table from the house and are investigating how long the five officers had been meeting to gamble. (dpa)